Multiple seating including stackable chairs with folding backs



Aug. 31, 1965 A. F. KRUEGER 3,

MULTIPLE SEATING INCLUDING STACKABLE CHAIRS WITH FOLDING BACKS Filed Sept. 9, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z/r '4- INVENTOR.

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ATTOZNEY! United States Patent a 203 731 MULTIPLE SEATING, rNcLtmiNG STACKABLE CHAIRS WITH FOLDING BACKS Allison F. Krueger, Green Bay, Wis., assignor to Krueger This invention relates to multiple seating including stackable chairs with folding backs.

Chairs embodying the invention may be stacked individually or in assembled multiple sets. In any case, the legs interlock with each other to position stacked chairs against fore-and-aft displacement and, desirably, the frames interlock with the backs of chairs on which they are respectively superimposed, both forms of interlock being achieved regardless of whether the individual units are being stacked or whether chairs assembled in sets are being stacked with like sets of chairs.

Seats and backs have stop hinges pivotally connecting them with each other. In perferred embodiments, the stop hinges not only limit the pivotal movement of the back beyond a desired position of use but also limit the pressure resulting from stacking after the back has been pivoted toward the seat. This avoids undue pressure of .the back upholstery upon the seat upholstery when the chairs are stacked.

The subassembly of a pivotally connected seat and back is desirably of less width than a rigid frame to which the legs are attached. The frame includes generally parallel side members with which the legs are in rigid connection, and cross members preferably disposed between the ends of the side members. The sides of the seat and back are preferably not parallel but are forwardly convergent, the stop hinges being correspondingly angled so that the pivotally connected portions thereof have relative movements in planes parallel to the side members. When the chairs are assembled in sets or gangs of chairs, they may conveniently be connected with each other by means of bars which extend beneath the assembled chairs for the width of the set, and are anchored to the frames of inindividual chairs by means of clips engaging the exposed side members of the respective chair frames.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a chair of preferred construction embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view thereof in side elevation.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the chair of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the chair of FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 5 is a view in side elevation of a pair of stacked chairs of the type shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 6 shows the chairs of FIG. 5 as viewed from the plane indicated at 6-6 in FIG. 5

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale and taken in section on the line 7-7 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale of the preferred type of stop hinge shown in FIGS.

1, 2 and 5.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 showing a modified embodiment of stop hinge.

Patented Aug. 31, 1965 "ice FIG. 10 is a plan view on a reduced scale showing chairs embodying the invention as they appear when assembled in a set or gang of chairs.

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary detail view taken on an enlarged scale on the line l.1-11 of FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary detail view on an enlarged scale taken on the line 1212 of FIG. 10.

Each chair embodying the invention preferably comprises a frame generically designated by reference character 14 and comprising side members 16 and 18 which are generally parallel to each other and supported on forward legs 20 and rear legs 22. The forward and rear legs are preferably divergent, the divergence being partially attributable to the rearward inclination of the frame members 16 and 18 as best shown in FIG. 2, and partially due to the obtuse angle 24 between the respective rear legs and the respective frame member.

The frames 14 of the respective chairs further include transverse members 26 and 28 which are welded or otherwise secured to the side members 16 and 18, preferably intermediate the ends thereof, as clearly appears in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Fixed to the transverse frame members 26, 28 is a subcombination comprising seat and back elements of like contour and in hinged connection with each other. Each such seat element 30 is desirably prefabricated to constitute a metal pan 32 with rolled or beaded sides at 34 that retain padded upholstery 36. The structure may include a wooden base 76 upon which there is a sponge rubber pad 78 about which the upholstery or other covering is wrapped as shown in FIG. 7. The seat is of lesser width than the frame 14, the side margins thereof prefferably being forwardly convergent to lie between the side members 16 and 18 of the frame. The pan 32, which constitutes the bottom of the seat, may be anchored by bolts 74 to the transverse members 26, 28 of the frame.

The back 40 may comprise a pan 42 like that which provides the seat and having similar lateral beads at 44 from which the padded upholstery 46 projects as above described. Seat and back elements may be identical.

The back 40 is hingedly connected with the rear of the seat 36) and is preferably dependent thereon for position. The hinged connection is preferably effected by means of hinges best illustrated separately in FIG. 8 at 50. Each such hinge includes a strap 52 connected by spot welds 54 to the side of the seat. The hinge flange 56 is connected to the bottom of the seat as by welds 57 shown in FIG. 4. Each such hinge further includes a strap 58 welded to the seat back 40 by a spot weld or welds 60. A pintle bolt or rivet 62 pivotally connects strap 58 with strap 52 of each such hinge.

The portion of strap 52 in which the pintle 62 is located may be somewhat broadened at 64 and provided with a channel shaped stop flange 66 which overhangs the move-.

downwardly upon the pintle 62 to the folded position shown in FIG. 5 wherein the back is superimposed on the seat. The position of strap 58 will then be as indicated in dotted lines in FIG. 8. It will rest on the end 70 of the stop flange 66 to hold the seat back in a position in which it will be substantially parallel with the seat, undue compression of the padding and undue friction of the back upholstery 46 upon the seat upholstery 36 being revented by this stop flange contact. In this position of the parts, the pan portion 42 of the folded back is exposed to receive and support bumpers 72 which are disposed on the undersides of the transverse frame elements 26 and 28 as best shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 5 and 7. These bumpers may be mounted on the bolts 74 threadedly engaged with nuts 76 welded to the pan portions 34 of the respective seats and thereby serving to connect the seats detachably to the respective transverse frame members 26 and 28.

FIG. 9 shows a different stop hinge arrangement employing straps 520 and 580 connected together by pintle 620, the sto member 660 being carried, in this instance, by the strap member 580 to engage the rear margin 7 09 of the strap member 520. This stop hinge is effective to hold the back in the desired position of use, but it offers no stop to limit the folding movement of the back onto the seat. This imposes the weight of superimposed chairs directly upon the seat and back cushions of underlying chairs.

Reference has been made to the bumpers 72 which support the weight of a superimposed chair upon the folded back of a chair therebeneath. In addition to these bumpers, we preferably provide bumpers at 80 on the inner sides of respective legs. In the nested positions of the chairs, these bumpers engage the outside surfaces of the legs of underlying chairs as best shown in FIG. 1. Also, as a means of aligning the superimposed chairs against lateral displacement, the respective transverse frame members, or at least the forward frame members 26, are desirably provided with padded or plastic covered fingers at 84 which register with, and engage the sides of, the flanges or beads 34 of underlying chairs in the manner clearly shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

A row of chairs can be connected as a unitary set or gang in the manner shown in FIGS. 10 to 12. This may conveniently be done by extending a bar or bars 86 transversely beneath any given number of chairs in a row. FIG. 10 shows four chairs thus connected unitarily. Intermediate the ends of the row the proximate side frame members 16 of one chair and 18 of an adjacent chair are engaged by a clip 88 which is clamped thereon by means of a bolt 90 extending between the respective chairs into threaded connection with a nut 92 fixed to the bar 86. At the ends of the row a modified Clip 94 is similarly connected to the frame member 18 of the terminal bar by means of a similar bolt 90 as shown in FIG. 12. A set i of chairs thus connected in a row of any length for which the connecting bar is provided may be handled unitarily and stacked unitarily. The backs may be raised and lowered individually when the chairs are unstacked.

I claim:

1. A stackable chair with folding back, said chair com prising the combination with a frame having sides and cross members in integral connection and having legs which are downwardly divergent and connected at their upper ends rigidly with the side members of said frame, of a subcombination which includes seat and back elements having hinge means independent of the frame for directly connecting the back element to the seat element for pivotal movement, and means for connecting the seat element with a cross member of said frame in spaced relation to the side members of said frame, the said hinge comprising straps connected to the respective elements and pintles connecting the respective straps to each other independently of said frame, a stop comprising a flange on one of the straps in a position to be engaged by the other of said straps for limiting the pivotal movement of the back element with respect to the seat element to define a position of use, the back element being foldable from said position of use to a position of storage in which it overlies the seat element and the chair being stackable 4- with other like chairs when the back element is in said position of storage.

2. A stackable chair with folding back according to claim 1 in which means is further provided on the respective straps for limiting pivotal movement of the back element to its said storage position.

3. A stackable chair with folding back according to claim 2 in which one said frame cross member has bumper means on the underside thereof for engagement with the back of the folded back element of alike chair upon which the frame may be stacked.

4. A stackable chair with folding back according to claim 1 in which each of the back and seat elements comprises a shallow pan with beaded side margins which are convergent forwardly in the case of the seat element and convergent upwardly in the case of the back element and have similar inserts which comprise base members disposed within the aid beaded margins and having pads and upholstery projecting from said beaded margins, the said elements having hinged straps respectively connected to the sides of said elements at each side of, the chair, the hinged straps having intle means connecting them pivotally with each other, whereby the back element is movable between a position of use and a folded position, one of the straps of each hinge comprising a stop flange engageable by the other strap of such hinge to define a predetermined position of the back with respect to the seat.

5. A stackable chair with folding back according to claim 1 connected with at least one other such chair in side-by-side relationship, the seat elements of the respective chairs being narrower than the frames, thereby leaving the side members of the respective frames exposed, a bar extending beneath the respective frames and having clip means connecting it with contiguous side members of the frames of adjacent chairs and with the outside frame members of the chairs adjacent the ends of such bar.

6. A stackable chair with folding back, said chair comprising a frame having sides which are substantially parallel and inclined downwardly from front to rear and having cross members in integral connection with said sides at points intermediate the ends of the sides, said frame further having front legs substantially at right angles to the sides of the frame whereby to be inclinedforwardly and downwardly therefrom and rear legs connected with the rear ends of the frame sidesat an obtuse angle to be incline-d rearwardly and downwardly therefrom, a subcombination which includes seat and back elements of similar contour having sides which converge forwardly in the case of the seat element and upwardly in the case of the back element, both of said elements being narrower than the frame and each of said elements comprising a shallow pan having marginal flanges, and each such element having a pad and a cover therefor, means connecting the seat element with a cross member of the frame, hinge means connecting the back element to the seat element adjacent the rear of the frame for accommodating pivotal movement of the back element between a position of use and a storage position in which it is superimposed on the seat element with the covers of the respective elements in substantial contact with each other, and means for limiting pivotal movement between said elements to define at least one of said positions.

7. A stackable chair with folding back according to claim 6 in which the frame legs are adapted to nest in superimposed relationship with the legs of a like frame, and the seat element is adapted to be superimposed on the back element of a like chair in the storage position of the latter element, and means upon said chair for positioning it with respect to a like chair on which it is superimposed, said chair being stackable with other chairs of like construction with the legs at opposite sides of the respective chairs superimposed in laterally spaced vertical planes, and the cross members of each superimposed chair spanning the back element of an underlying chair when the back element of such underlying chair is in its said storage position with its pan portion upwardly exposed.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Farrant 297-378 Barney 297-248 Stannard 297-50 Stannard 29746 Lewis 16-191 Saunders 297378 Bounds 297378 Bloom 16-191 Branson 297378 Eves 297248 Eves 29750 Eve 297-183 Van Buren 297-239 6 Stafford 297239 Moxley 297-239 FOREIGN PATENTS Austria. France.

(Addition to No. 459,935) France.

(Addition to No. 667,881) Germany. Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Great Britain. Italy. Switzerland.

FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A STACKABLE CHAIR WITH FOLDING BACK, SAID CHAIR COMPRISING THE COMBINATION WITH A FRAME HAVING SIDES AND CROSS MEMBERS IN INTEGRAL CONNECTION AND HAVING LEGS WHICH ARE DOWNWARDLY DIVERGENT AND CONNECTED AT THEIR UPPER ENDS RIGIDLY WITH THE SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID FRAME, OF A SUBCOMBINATION WHICH INCLUDES SEAT AND BACK ELEMENTS HAVING HINGE MEANS INDEPENDENT OF THE FRAME FOR DIRECTLY CONNECTING THE BACK ELEMENT TO THE SEAT ELEMENT FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT, AND MEANS FOR CONNECTING THE SEAT ELEMENT WITH A CROSS MEMBER OF SAID FRAME IN SPACED RELATION TO THE SIDE MEMBERS OF SAID FRAME, THE SAID HINGE COMPRISING STRAPS CONNECTED TO THE RESPECTIVE ELEMENTS AND PINTLES CONNECTING THE RESPECTIVE STRAPS TO EACH OTHER IN- 